Just Out Of Her Grasp
by xWinterRose
Summary: Anna is devasted when she learns Kristoff is leaving for an Ice-Harvesters only expedition into the mountains. Suddenly, she faces being alone for the first time in almost a year...
1. Goodbye, Kristoff!

"Do you have to go?"

"It's only for a few weeks, Anna. I'll be back before you know it."

The rain drizzling over the harbour seemed to force itself down only harder as the evening slipped past. The last few days had been leading up to this very moment and now that the time had come, Anna was far from prepared. She pulled her cloak tightly around her shivering body as the last pin in her wet hair slid out, allowing tendrils of silk cascade down over her left shoulder. A long, dark ship floated on the water behind the shadows, complimented by a backlog of ice harvesters waiting to get on. The sails billowed as the evening weather threatened to rage into a storm, and harsh verbal commands from the shipmen reverberated around the fjord in order to keep the great beast tied to the dock.

"I miss you already," Anna whispered, her voice jagged in her throat.

"As I'll miss you! But you'll be fine, I promise." Kristoff looked hard at Anna, bright eyes blinking rain away with dark lashes. "I'm still going to be _here,_" he told her, using a sweeping motion to indicate the mountains beyond the fjords. His mouth pulled up into a grin as he took Anna in his arms, stating; "it's not as if we're not going to see each other again."

"That's what my mother and father said." Anna's tone was dead, her eyes cold. "You promised you weren't going to leave me." Kristoff's smile faded, the colour running from his cheeks.

"Anna I-"

Shrugging away his touch, Anna used her shoulders as a barrier as Kristoff reached out again. She began to pace up and down on the wooden pier and as her speech quickened, so did her steps. "You know what? It's fine. _I'm_ fine. You go and enjoy yourself. You've been waiting for this opportunity for months and now it's here and who am I to stop you I mean I'm just me and I'm nothing special, you should go to the mountains and have fun, don't even think about me I-"

"Whoa okay, slow down there!" Kristoff's thick arms held the girl still. "You are special. To me. Look, Anna, please don't panic-"

"I'm not panicking-"

"I can _see _you're panicking-"

"Why would I be-"

Having enough of Anna's frantic argument, Kristoff leaned forward and kissed Anna's soft lips. When she was still, he pulled away, slowly, gently, looking into each of her eyes. Behind the couple, the last few ice harvesters climbed aboard the awaiting vessel. "Do you trust me?" he asked, urgently. His voice was low; his eyes were wide.

The reply was short and simple. "Yes."

"Then don't worry about me. I can look after myself – I'm just worried about you."

"Me? Why?"

"And look after Sven, please Anna… Don't forget the carrots this time…" Kristoff's face turned playful, as the memory danced in the space between them.

"That was _one time. _It wasn't my fault anyway it was-" Another kiss.

"You know I love you."

"_I_ love _you_."

"And so this will be the first test of our relationship, really. Think about that. I'll be gone, you'll be here. Just… do something fun. Take Sven out, you know? Go and see Olaf. I know I haven't been away for this long before, but I'll still write and when I come back I'll take you to the tavern and we'll get drinks," he paused, noticing the silence misting around them. "Anna?"

Anna swallowed hard, quickly hoping that the action had been unintelligible. "Me? Yes! I'm here. You'll have so much fun. I was just thinking about how dark it's getting, that's all." Anna swallowed again, forcing a smile. "I love you."

"As I do you." Kristoff leaned down again, kissing her welcoming mouth. They stood together, moving only with each other's rhythm for what seemed like mere seconds, but long enough for the last lines of light to drop the fjords into darkness. "I'll see you soon."

"Before you know it," Anna echoed, smiling into the night. She watched as Kristoff entered the ship, glancing back at her as he ducked out of sight behind an immense sail.

Anna turned away from the vessel, once more pulling her cloak around her. "Until the end of time," she whispered under her breath, blinking back tears. Sure, Kristoff was only going away for a few weeks – the harvesters had finally procured the ice job they'd been trying to for the entirety of the summer. As Arendelle's official Ice Master and Deliverer, Kristoff had been asked to manage the crew during the handling process, which would round up the end of every day. When the Queen had offered him the role on the expedition, Anna had been keen for her love to go, so he could explore places he'd not been. Diversely, Kristoff had been hesitant, not wanting to leave Anna behind. As the time passed, their roles had unkindly switched themselves, and Anna found her heart beating irrationally as she walked through the streets of Arendelle, attempting to keep the tears under control at least until she got home. There, she could cry all she wanted; her home was her safe place.

The rain had turned to sleet as Anna reached the castle doors. Her hand rested on the wooden surface of the entrance momentarily, and she took the chance to catch her breath.

"Conceal, don't feel," a voice whispered behind her, and suddenly a warm hand rested comfortingly over Anna's shoulders, pulling her in.

"Don't let it show," Anna finished, turning to greet her sister. A huge grin spread childishly over her face, as she prepared to chastise her sister. "That really worked for you, didn't it?" she said playfully, amicably hitting her sisters' arm.

"Oh shut up," Elsa returned in the same nature. The sisters giggled, yet shortly fell silent. Noticing Anna's face drop, Elsa held up her hand, stroking Anna's shoulder. Her whole body contorted with concern as she looked Anna over. "Hey, are you okay?"

"No. I miss him already," Anna started, and then stopped, shaking her head quickly. "But enough about that… What are you doing out so late?" Anna's spirited Cheshire Cat grin was back. Elsa blushed, the red staining being delicately captured in the light let out through the window of the entrance hall. Elsa sucked in her mouth, refusing to give her sister an answer. Her eyes told a different story – they were alive with jubilance as the eldest sister pushed open the door, holding it for Anna to go through.

Inside, the sisters peeled off wet cloaks, leaving them dripping in the doorway. "Are you going to tell me?" Anna asked, narrowing her eyes and allowing a smile to escape. "Or am I going to have to use force to get the story out of you?" She ran to the bottom of the stairs, pulling a sword from the far left suit of armour and holding it up in the direction of Elsa.

Tremendously apprehensive and knowing exactly the way in which Anna's intentions often differed from her actions; Elsa stopped taking off her shoe and slowly began to stand up straight. Anna was now swinging the sword around in pretend defiance, moving her eyebrows up and down with every motion. Elsa hand both her hands out, her forehead furrowing. "Oh Anna, please put that down you know what you're-"

_Clang! _

Anna stood in shock as she looked at the weapon protruding millimetres away from Elsa's ear, buried deep in the wall. "I'm so sorry. So sorry," she began, rushing forwards. "I'll put it away!" She reached a hand towards the tool.

Elsa caught her wrist, sighing. "No, I'll do it. Anna, please be more careful, I don't know how many times I have to tell you…"

"I'm sorry," Anna said, softly, her eyes fixed on the floor. "I just… get so excited now; it feels like it's only been a day since you and I started talking again!"

Elsa's eyes too flickered to the floor before fixating on Anna. Her breathing became fast as she took a punitive, authoritative tone with her sister. "Anna, it wasn't yesterday. Would you go upstairs? It's late. You should probably rest now."

"But Elsa-"

"Go."

Anna glared at her counterpart for a second too long, and took off upstairs towards her bedroom where she intended to stay for the remainder of the night. Once inside her room, Anna sat down at her desk. The wonderful birch creation had sat unused in the corner of the room for almost a year now – Anna had felt she hadn't a reason to use it creatively since she had met Kristoff, as she was spending all her time with him. As her education had finished, she hadn't needed the desk for any school-related purposes either. Her fingers twitched and fumbled over several quills that feathered wooden pots pieced towards the back of the structure. Making a quick decision, Anna opened a side drawer and took out a couple of sheets of paper. Carefully, she laid it out on the desk and flattened it with the back of her right hand. Sticking her tongue out in concentration, Anna picked up the _fjærpenn_ that had always been her favourite – a feather belonging to a Bewick's Swan, given to her by her late father, who'd received the item as a gift from his late father. Anna's hand drifted to the paper, and gradually she began to scratch out a message.

_Dear Kristoff,_

_I miss you incredibly, and by the time you get this message it will have meant I've spent an -  
_

Here, Anna paused, attempting to spell the word 'excrutiating' and instead ending up with the remnants '_excruce,' '__excrush,' and '__excruceia_ dotted across the page, before striking through them and continuing.

_ - a very long time away from you and I think I will have had a very hard time with that. _

_I wonder if you still miss me? Or if you're having too much fun? Either way, I can't wait until I see you in a few weeks. When you get this, it'll be about five weeks left until you come back, how exciting!_

_Guess what almost happened? Elsa almost got impaled, and now she's making me stay in my room. Actually, I don't know why I'm standing for this, she's my sister, not my mother. If she thinks that gives her power she can think again!_

_Maybe I should run away until you get back? No wait a minute, no, that's a bad idea, who'd feed Sven? I suppose Elsa could find a stable boy to do that? Maybe Hans'll come back to do his "community service" duty to make up for the conspiracy to kill the entire royal family of Arendelle. _

_I'm seeing the band soon, tomorrow I think - to sort out the set for the upcoming ball. Elsa's put me in charge of it as she wants me to have a position of responsibility. I might have told you that, sorry. Or maybe I haven't? You know, you being away like this makes it awfully easy to talk to you. _

_Anywho, I've got to sleep at some point this evening, I think_

_Oops, sorry, I went to look out of the window! But as I was writing, I thought the sun was coming up, and indeed it is! So I'll speak to you very soon, goodnight and have a wonderful first few nights. _

_I love you._

_Anna _

_P.S – It's true love!_

Anna found herself giggling quietly as she added the postscript. She did miss Kristoff hugely, even knowing that he was en route was a heavy weight to bear when they had spent so much time recently in each other's presence. However, as she had noted to Kristoff, the sun was a sliver on the horizon and she needed her sleep. She had to be up early enough to prepare for the band's arrival; she had to feed Sven; she had to find time to actually eat herself! Anna drew her curtains closed and watched as the dust that had collected throughout the day drifted into some of the early rays of light refracting from the glass. A wall of sleep suddenly hit, and Anna felt her eyes giving into the pressure of her bed. She peeled her still-wet dress away, leaving her standing in the middle of her bedroom in her underwear. Taking it away from her body piece by piece, she left her remaining clothes in a crumpled heap where she stood. Using a hand to pry both her eyes open, she somehow managed to rummage in her armoire for a clean night gown. On finding one, she threw herself into bed, barely touching the pillow before she fell into a deep, comfortable sleep.


	2. The Band's Arrival

Anna awoke early the next morning, unable to fall back into the trance-like slumber she had stirred from. Sitting up groggily, she pushed limp hair from her face and pressed her eyelids together in a bid to blink away remnants of sleep. Stretching her arms outwards, her eyes still closed, she immediately felt as if something was missing. Sure enough, the weight of Kristoff's body had been removed from his usual position - lying next to her. Longingly, Anna reached a hand over to where her love would lay, stroking the empty sheets. A mournful air passed over her, and Anna found herself grieving for the man who so belonged to her bedroom, the man whom she had accustomed herself to constantly being with.

Footsteps echoed their way up the long hallway, passing Anna's door in a hurry. They abruptly stopped, and Anna listened as they returned. A few hesitant seconds passed, until a voice made a decision and spoke. "Anna? Are you awake?" Anna opened an eye, following the familiar voice toward the doorway.

"Hmm? Elsa?" Her reply was husky; her voice had not yet begun to form words purely this morning. Anna coughed loudly, covering her mouth with a fist. "Elsa?"

"The band'll be here in an hour," her sister told her. Her confident voice shook as she continued, "Can I come in?"

"Of course you can!" The much welcomed reply enabled Elsa to twist the door handle and enter the room, looking sheepishly at her younger sister. Anna looked Elsa over before raising herself into a sitting position. "I told you, you don't have to ask unless-"

"Kristoff's here, I know," Elsa finished. The pair looked away from each other; Anna's cheeks flamed as red as her hair, and Elsa paled at past memories. "I just don't want to take any chances."

Anna shrugged, the strap of her nightgown falling down her shoulder. "Fair enough," she replied, absent-mindedly pulling the material fixture back into the station it belonged. "What did you come in for?" Anna asked softly, indicating for Elsa to sit beside her on the bed.

Elsa ignored the gesture, choosing instead to sit on the chair paired with Anna's desk. "I've fed Sven already," she announced, pulling a slipper from her foot and inspecting it. Sensing Anna's indignation, she quickly continued. "Carrots, obviously."

"Thank you," Anna said, looking out of her bedroom window, sighing. "I was looking forward to that, though."

"You were?" Removing a small stone from the sole of the slipper, Elsa placed the article back on her foot. "You should have said."

"I was asleep," Anna said bitterly. Sven was the closest thing she had left of Kristoff, and she was determined to keep him in good shape, _without _help from anyone else. She could just imagine the impressed look on Kristoff's face when he came back home; him seeing Sven stand healthily with a glossy coat and a pile of carrots to his side to share. He'd sweep Anna up in his arms, kissing her over and over, praising her for all of her hard work…

Elsa stood hastily, brushing her hands down the sides of her dress. "Yes," she said quietly, moving toward the door. With a harder tone, she turned to face Anna. "Be ready for the band. I trust you with this."

"So you say."

"Anna," Elsa began, attuning her speech to host a much gentler tone. "I know you miss him, but please don't take this out on me. I'm only trying to help you." The eldest sibling paused, assessing Anna, who was still on her bed. Anna's hands were clasped irately into two fists, her eyes clamped together. "If you need any help, you know where I am," Elsa said. She didn't move for a long few seconds, concern etched onto her face. After realising Anna wasn't going to speak, Elsa sighed and left the room.

The click of the door closing allowed Anna to relax and open her palms. "I'll come and find you so that you can tell me how you want me to live my life, right Elsa?" she muttered, the words lost in the anger of her breath. Frustrated, she threw herself back down onto her bed, closing her eyes.

* * *

"How did it go?" Kai asked, scrutinising the disgruntled queen as she walked into the throne room. With a withering look at the servant, Elsa seated herself on a chair left at the side of the room after she'd hosted the last reception. "Not well then?" Kai grinned as he pulled a chair up alongside Elsa.

"Not really. With all her talk of me shutting her out, she seems to be doing a pretty good job of shutting herself out." Elsa dropped her face into her hands, rubbing her eyes.

"She's just missing Kristoff."

"I know. But this is out of character, even for her."

Kai shrugged. "The girl's in love. Erratically in love."

"It's been a day."

"And it'll get easier for her. Right now she needs to be left alone. You've done what you can, and when she realises she needs you she'll be straight there. I promise." Elsa nodded in recognition of Kai's words, sitting up. "Your majesty, if you don't mind me asking, what time did you get in last night?"

"Funny story," Elsa said. "I actually met Anna coming back in from seeing off Kristoff. I don't know what time it was, it was quite late."

"Anna came in late? No wonder she's still in bed... And how _is_ Henrik? I've been meaning to ask."

Elsa flushed a deep red. "He's fine, thank you for asking."

"I thought Your Majesty would spend the night there…"

"Kai!"

The servant laughed, standing up. "Would you like anything from the kitchens, Your Majesty?"

"No thanks, I'm fine," Elsa replied.

"If you need anything, just let myself or Gerda know. We'll get it right away."

"Thank you, Kai."

Kai smiled, exiting through the colossal throne room doors. Elsa remained seated momentarily, her face darkening. She'd placed Anna in charge of the upcoming ball in order to keep Anna's mind focused on something other than Kristoff. Elsa hoped that as soon as the band members arrived, Anna would be thrust into hard work in choosing songs and staging the musicians in the Minstrel's Gallery, and would barely have time for her mind to flicker to thoughts other than what was at hand. Shaking her head, Elsa rose. She walked through into the corridor, deciding to view the artwork in the entrance hall before she would begin her paperwork.

As she reached the door of the entrance hall, Elsa noticed the suit of armour that Anna had taken the sword from the night before in a bout of excitement. The Queen moved over to it, looking at her reflection in the brilliant metal. The rays of light filtering in through the windows each side of the door to the castle captured particles in the air that hung over Elsa. Elsa looked at her flush complexion, filled with newfound love. Her eyes seemed brighter; her royal attire clung exquisitely to every curve on her body. White-blonde hair lay just passed her breasts, drawing a voyeur's eye to them.

A loud mix of voices turned Elsa's attention to a rabble gathering outside the castle doors.

"Did you say you'd met the Queen before?" A female was speaking, her words instantly hushing the small crowd around her.

"No, I said I was sick for the coronation." A second voice, male, answered her.

The female replied, "no way – me too!"

"I swear, if you're the person who made me ill I'll-"

"There was a bug, it wasn't my fault!"

Realising the musicians had arrived, Elsa made a start for the door.

"I heard that Queen Elsa can be really cold…" A new voice had created a different conversation, stopping Elsa in her tracks.

"Ha, funny."

"No - I'm serious. One of the girls down at the school said that she refused to let the princess marry her Kristoff!"

Elsa rolled her eyes. "That would be Hans," she muttered.

"But they've been together for almost a year!"

"I know. Apparently Elsa said Anna couldn't marry him, so Anna and Kristoff went on a 'honeymoon' anyway."

"Don't be stupid," the female voice countered, "After the coronation, Anna went to save Elsa."

The male sputtered. "She went to bring back summer, not to save a powerful sorceress who'd never need saving…"

"Oh shut up! How can you possibly know that?"

"Everyone knows…"

Elsa refused to listen to any more of the exchange outside. She took a deep breath and opened up the door. Immediately, the trio stopped bickering and bowed low to their Queen.

"Queen Elsa," the loudest female gasped, dropping her instrumental case.

"It's nice to meet you," Elsa said, forcing a smile. "Won't you come in?" She motioned to the male instrumentalist, and then to the inside of the castle. The queen lent her head back, shouting up the stairs. "Kai? Gerda? The musicians are here!"

* * *

Upstairs, Anna's eyes opened wide. "Oh shoot," she exclaimed, bolting out of bed. Panicking, she pulled an outfit from her armoire and ran from her room, sliding down the bannister until she hit the ground floor of the castle. All three musicians looked up as Anna entered the Minstrel's Gallery, her face red with effort.

Puzzled, Elsa raised her eyebrows inquisitively at her sister. Letting out a gasp she started to say, "what are you-"

"Hi, I'm Anna!" Anna said breathlessly, smiling profusely at each of the band members in turn. "I'm going to be the person in charge of positioning you etcetera, etcetera, but you probably assume that from my eagerness and excitement."

Elsa tried again. "Anna-"

"You must be Aida," Anna said, gesturing to the first female. "And you're… Cecily?"

"Cecilia," the third band member stated, looking flustered.

"Aida, Cecilia, which means you're either Vigulf or Henrik." Anna placed her hands on her hips, proud at her own memory.

"Anna, I must insist-"

"Oh Elsa please, I'm doing fine here. Can't you just let me be in control for once?" Angry, Anna felt her hands closing back into fists, her arms now resting at her side.

"Anna," Elsa began, her eyes on the floor. "Your dress-"

Anna exploded. "Are you really telling me what to wear now?!"

Vigulf coughed, drawing Anna's attention to him. "Look down, princess."

The dress Anna had chosen to wear would have been perfect for the occasion; there was no doubt about that. When putting it on, however, Anna had missed the vital fact that her breasts were supposed to align themselves with the space in the dress allocated for breasts, and not above this space. Hastily, Anna turned around, readjusting the front panel of the garment. She sheepishly twisted, grimacing at her audience.

"I thought something felt a bit breezy," she said, laughing uneasily. Smiling a toothy smile, she leaned towards Elsa and said through her gritted teeth, "you couldn't have said anything?"

Elsa's head snapped around to face her younger sister. "Anna, I tried to tell you…"

"Whatever."

"You called?" Gerda had entered the room, carrying a tray of hot drinks.

"Thank you, Gerda," Elsa said, moving aside so Gerda could place the tray down on a small table. A plethora of thankful smiles exchanged between the band and the servant.

"I'm Vigulf, by the way," the male said, addressing the sisters. "Henrik hasn't arrived yet." As if on cue, a knock resounded from the heavy wood of the door.

"Henrik?" Elsa asked as Anna went in answer of the sound. As she did so, ice crystals expelled themselves from Elsa's fingertips, coating the floor.

"Yes, he's one of our _hardingfele_ players."

"Oooh, you have _hardinfele_ players?" Anna asked, re-entering the room with a taller man. Henrik was around six foot three, slim faced and bodied, yet still sported well-muscled arms. His dark hair had been recently cut, although his sideburns verged on 'long'. Elsa squeaked, causing the group to look at her in surprise.

"Uh, we do, yes," Vigulf answered, talking to Anna but keeping a curious expression targeted on Elsa.

"Queen Elsa, if it isn't my pleasure to see you on this fine morning I have no idea what is," said Henrik, charming Elsa with a beam.

"Henrik, how lovely it is to see you again," Elsa replied politely, calming herself. "Would you like a tour of the rooms?"

Aida nudged Cecilia suggestively; on noticing this action, Anna clasped her hands over her mouth, stifling her giggling.

"Of course, that would be delightful, my Queen," Henrik answered, holding out an arm for Elsa to take. Reddening, she did so, and the pair left the room. Waiting for their footsteps to fade from earshot, Vigulf leaned in towards his fellow band mates as Anna took a seat next to them.

"What was all that about?" he asked, grinning.

Cecilia laughed, her mouth being quickly covered by a 'shh'-ing Aida. "The Queen and Henrik have been seeing each other."

"Is that another of your rumours?" Vigulf looked unimpressed.

"Can't you tell? They're smitten."

"Wait, what? Elsa and Henrik are a thing?" Anna asked, puzzled.

"Yes, why?"

Anna bit her lip in thought. "Elsa came home late last night… I wonder if she was seeing him?"

"Ooh, that's very exciting." Cecilia seemed to be taking mental notes, as if she were a journalist writing for a gossip magazine.

"Oh!" Anna said. "I'm not sure if I was meant to say anything."

"Don't mind her," Aida said, looping an arm through Anna's. "Maybe _we_ could get a tour of the place as well? Your sister just took our lead player." She and Cecilia sniggered. In an attempt to join in with her new acquaintances, Anna too began to laugh, her own laughter finishing late after the other two females. She coughed, embarrassed.

"I suppose we should begin this tour then, hey?" Vigulf said, kindly. He stood, reaching a hand down to Anna. Looking at his hand, Anna's eyes widened. Grinning at her innocence, Vigulf took Anna's hand in his and pulled her upwards.

The two stood, their eyes locking together. Minutes passed before Aida coughed; Anna quickly dropped Vigulf's hand, looking down.

Aida and Cecilia joined the pair in standing. Vigulf turned to Anna, catching her eye. His mouth pulled up into a one-sided grin, perfect teeth flashing. "So, where should we start?"


End file.
